Friends
by VilyaSage
Summary: [Abyss, oneshot] When a part of the journey has ended, and all that remain are memories, the ties of friendship can still reach across the expanse of time and action. A birthday fic for Griffinkhan!


_Spoilers for after the Isle of Feres. _

_**Happy birthday, Griff!** Hehe, I hope you like it…again. :) _

---

**Friends**

_The air was warm in the Cheagle Woods, despite the shade offered by the trees. It was a comfortable sort of warm, though, and Luke found himself smiling despite the severity of the reason for their return. He laughed, too, when Mieu took off away from the path, with Anise chasing after him._

_"I can't believe she's so happy at a time like this," Natalia mused, one hand touching her chin in thought._

_"Maybe she needs to forget," Luke offered quietly. "A lot of stuff has happened to her lately." _

_"A lot has happened to _all_ of us lately," Guy added, shaking his head. _

_"It is hard to believe how much things have changed," Natalia agreed. "I can barely remember a time when I _didn't_ know all the horrible things that have been happening."_

_"Such heavy conversation on such a nice day," Jade called back, lightly condescending. "Young people should learn how to enjoy themselves." _

_"I'm enjoying myself, Colonel!" Anise called, returning to the group with Mieu perched on top of her head. The cheagle hopped to the ground as Anise sighed softly. "For a while, anyway." _

_They continued walking, letting Anise and Jade take the lead; Luke barely remembered the way through and Tear had not offered to remind him. They traveled in silence for a short while, trying to enjoy the peace of the forest without dwelling on the battle to come. _

_Luke stopped suddenly, staring up at a tree with large, gnarled roots. He stood completely still and silent, just looking. When the others noticed he was no longer following them, they turned around and joined him._

_"See something interesting?" Guy asked with a smile. Luke let out a breath, slumping just slightly. _

_"I was just…remembering." He laughed harshly, looking up with a weak smile. "How often do you hear _me_ say _that_?" _

_"What were you remembering?" Tear asked, looking up at the tree with him._

_"It's just…well, way back when this all started…this is the first place I ever really talked to Ion." _

_Tear glanced around them, smiling gently. "So it is." Her voice took on a distant quality; she was remembering, as well. "He gave you a capacity core, too." _

_Luke laughed more genuinely this time. "He sure was _weird_." Anise gave him a furious glare, but he didn't take much notice of it. "I mean, I was pretty nasty back then, but he kept talking about how nice I was." _

_"I remember that," Anise said, nodding once. "He really liked you, Luke. He said you felt familiar." _

_"He did, didn't he?" Luke smiled sadly, touching the rough bark of the tree with one hand. "I wonder if that was because both of us are replicas." _

--

The wind blew gently through the open window of the room shared by Luke and Guy. The blond did little more than turn his back to the breeze in his sleep and pull the blankets tighter; the redhead opened his eyes and stared up into the darkness above him.

The group was staying at the inn in Sheridan, after a long and trying day. Luke could only vaguely remember arriving; their last battle had been difficult, and he had fallen unconscious before it ended. It was nice to wake up in a bed, of course, but he would have preferred knowing what else had gone on.

Finding himself unable to go back to sleep, Luke rose as silently as possible and walked to the window. He pulled it mostly closed, to keep the breeze to a minimum, and moved quietly past the slumbering Guy into the narrow hall that led to the front door.

Running a hand through his short hair, Luke stepped out into the cool night. He still felt a little dazed, and he had no idea how late it was, but it was a nice night and maybe for a while he could just be happy with that.

A small noise made him turn to glance behind him. Standing at the rail of the upper level of the inn, staring up at the cloudless night sky, was Ion. He did not appear to have noticed Luke's exit; the Fon Master was lost in thoughts of his own.

Ion seemed to sense that someone was watching him though, because after a moment he looked over at Luke and smiled. "Hello, Luke. I'm glad you're awake."

"Hey Ion." Luke joined him at the low wall that served as a railing, looking out at the water.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Ion's voice and expression were full of concern. "You got hit pretty hard in that battle today."

"Nah, I'm fine." Luke shrugged, smiling in reassurance. "I've been sleeping all evening, anyway."

"Oh. Okay then." Ion smiled back, returning his attention to the sea before him.

"Why are _you_ out here?" Luke asked, looking over at him again. Ion tilted his head slightly, not looking Luke's way.

"I couldn't sleep. I feel like I have too much to think about." One of Ion's hands unconsciously folded around his Order pendant, and he sighed softly. "And it's a beautiful night."

"Yeah." Luke leaned forward over the low stone wall, studying the empty street below them. "I guess we all have a lot to think about." He frowned at his thoughts. "Wish I could sleep through all this as well as the rest of them do."

"Maybe it's better if you can't," Ion offered, completely sincere. Luke blinked at him, confused. "That way you always have something to work toward."

"A night when I don't keep waking up?" He thought he might see the beginnings of what the Fon Master meant, now, but he asked anyway. If he let Ion explain, he would know for sure.

"A night when there isn't anything that keeps you from sleeping." Ion's voice softened, growing almost distant. He was staring fixedly out at the water again, the light of the nearly-full moon casting shadows across his troubled expression.

"Are you worried about the Order?" Luke guessed.

"Yes, and a lot of other things." Ion shook his head slowly, closing his eyes. "I just don't understand how the world has come to rely so heavily on the Score. It really is just a possibility. It isn't definite."

"We all know that." Luke smiled again, trying to be comforting. "After all, look at the two of us! We aren't even part of the Score."

"I wish that helped, but it doesn't stop people from relying on the Score for everything in their lives." Ion rubbed his forehead lightly with one hand, frowning. Luke silently berated himself for saying the wrong thing yet again.

"Well…well it doesn't have to _keep_ being that way." Ion opened his eyes again at the determination in Luke's voice. "I mean, think about it. _We_ exist outside the Score. Maybe…maybe because of that, we can change things." Luke looked out at the moonlit sea. "Maybe we're the only ones who can."

"Luke…" Ion began, but the redhead shook his head, cutting him off.

"Changes start _small_." He looked down at his hands on the stone wall, turning them over and studying his palms. "I know that now." His hands clenched into fists, and he looked up at Ion again. "It's already started for the Order, too. After all, you've convinced _us_ to give up the Score."

Ion was quiet for a very long time. Luke returned to staring at his hands, not wanting to further interrupt the Fon Master's thoughts. When Ion took a breath to speak again, Luke looked over at him. Ion, however, did not look back.

"You've made a lot of wrong decisions, Luke," he said solemnly.

Luke felt himself crumble from the inside, and he held onto the rail to stop himself from showing it so much on the outside.

"I…I know I have." He closed his eyes. "I've been a real idiot, haven't I? And here I am talking about changing and the way things should be, when I have no right to say things like that. I shouldn't have said anything, Ion." He shook his head quickly, trying to get control of himself. "I'm sorry for bothering you." He turned to walk back inside. "I'm sorry."

_I'm sorry for being the mistake that I am._

Ion's hand on his shoulder stopped him. "I wasn't finished, Luke."

"Wh-what?" Luke turned back around and found himself facing Ion's gentle smile.

"You've made a lot of wrong decisions," he said again, "but the most _important_ ones have been right ones." Ion's smile brightened. "I'm glad we're friends, Luke. I haven't really had time to make many friends in the past two years, aside from Anise, but I'm happy I met you that day in Engeve."

"I'm…glad we're friends, too." Luke smiled back, letting go of some of his disheartening thoughts. "I mean…I don't have very many, either. I spent my whole life in the manor, wanting to get out…and when I finally got out, I _hated_ it, and all I wanted to do was go back." He laughed almost mockingly, at himself. "I wasn't a very good person back then…but you still thought I was. Why?"

"You _were_ a good person, Luke." Ion laughed, too, in a much kinder way. "You agreed to let me come with you, and you even fought to protect me. It just took you a while to be that person for everyone else, too."

"You really mean that, huh?" Luke asked hesitantly.

"Of course I do." Ion nodded enthusiastically.

Luke rubbed the back of his head self-consciously. "Uh…thanks, Ion."

"You're welcome." Ion gave him another cheerful smile. "Thank _you_, also, Luke."

"Um, okay, but…what for?"

"For believing in me. In what we're doing."

"Yeah, well…we have to start somewhere." They both laughed, this time, like old friends. "I think I'm going back to sleep. Don't stay up all night, okay? Anise would kill me if she thought I kept you up."

"Don't worry about it," Ion assured him, half-turning back to his place at the rail. "Good night, Luke."

"Night, Ion." Luke gave the Fon Master a nod, then returned to his room just as silently as he had left it. He was stopped at the door by another, more forceful hand on his shoulder.

"It's a bit late, isn't it, Luke?" Jade asked in a sly voice. "What have you been up to?" The man's tone was casual, but Luke could practically feel his hard red glare boring through the back of his head. Thinking quickly, he came up with something of an answer.

"I went for a walk." Luke shrugged, not turning around. "I needed to get rid of some energy."

"I see." Luke grimaced at the sound of those words. "Good evening, then." He felt the hand release his shoulder and sighed loudly in relief. Slipping through the door of his room, he drew it closed behind him and returned to his bed.

He stared at the dark ceiling for a while longer, lost in thought. Eventually, he fell back to sleep.

--

_Jade frowned. "I don't know if replicas can recognize each other, but…"_

_Tear turned toward him, her raised eyebrow covered by her hair. "But what?" _

_The colonel sighed and closed his eyes, one hand fiddling with the bridge of his glasses. "I don't believe in reincarnation, but perhaps, sometime in the distant past, you and Ion were close friends." Jade opened his eyes again and looked straight at Luke. "That sounds better than 'because we're replicas.'" He smiled just slightly. "At least, to me it does." _

_Guy burst into sudden laughter, shaking his head in amazement. "That doesn't seem like you, Jade, but yeah, that's nice. It's a good way of thinking about it." _

_"Yeah, it is," Luke agreed with a soft smile. He dropped his hand from the tree, looking up at it again. "Ion…I'm so glad I met you. You were the first stranger who ever gave me a compliment." _

_"And probably the last," Anise muttered to Natalia, who was caught somewhere between a gasp and a giggle._

_Luke didn't pay them any attention. For a few seconds, it had been like having Ion with them again, somehow. He resumed following Anise on her resolute trek toward her duel with Arietta. He knew it probably wasn't going to end well. _

_But however it ended, they were going to have to continue. Ion had started change; it was up to them to finish it. _

By the way_, Luke thought, staring up into the canopy again. _You're welcome.

_"Come on, Luke!" Guy called again. "You get stuck in thinking mode, or what?" _

_"Yeah, don't slow us down!" Anise agreed, rounding on him with fiery eyes. "We need to finish this!" _

_"I know, I know. We do." Luke knew, in a sense, what Anise was hiding behind those stubborn words. That stubbornness would likely help her when it finally came time to battle. "Let's go." _

'Perhaps, sometime in the distant past…' _Luke smiled to himself. _Wish us luck, Ion. We have a lot of work to do.

---

_Griff: I know you've already seen it, and it's a day early, but tomorrow grows ever shorter on time. Happy birthday again – I hope it's absolutely awesome! _

_Everyone else:_ _Thanks a lot for reading this. It was meant to be light and sort of sweet, and friendly. Who doesn't love Ion at his best, after all? _


End file.
